Well-cleaning machine.



Nd. 647,947. Patented Apr. 24, |900.

' E. H. CDWAN.

WELL CLEANING MACHINE.

(Application flied Nov. 29, 189B.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

IA"iiiiiiiiiiiiqgi "il si! @gWy '/l/ f f,

No. 647,947. Patented Apr. 24, |900. E. H. COWAN.

WELL CLEANING MACHINE.

(Application Bled Nov. 29, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets--Shee 2.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELAS H. COWAN, OF OAKALLA, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARVEY M. RAMSOVVER, OF SAME PLACE.

WELL-CLEANING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 647,947, dated April 24, 1900. Application iiled November 29, 1898. Serial No. 697,790. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t mag/Concern.-

Be it known that I, ELIAS H. COWAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakalla, in the county of Burnet and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Well-Oleaning Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to well-drilling machinery, and particularly to a well-cleaning machine adapted for farm and general use and designed to facilitate the cleaning of wells which have become more or less obstructed by accumulations or which require deepening to increase the yield; and the objects in view are to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive apparatus adapted to be mounted upon a wagon-bed or other suitable truck for transportation to and from the point of use, said apparatus being provided with means whereby accumulations in the bottom of the well may be loosened and subsequently removed, and, furthermore, to provide an apparatus of the class described which maybe operated either manually or by horse or other power.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a well-cleaning apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section. Fig. 4 is adetail view of a portion of the oscillatory or spudding arm. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the drill-tool. Fig. 6 is a similar view of the bailer.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The apparatus embodying my invention is v preferably erected upon a base 1 for support upon the bed 2 of a wagon or similar vehicle, as upon the bed of a farm-wagon between the usual side standards 3, whereby the apparatus may be substituted for the wagonbody when desired. Rising from the base at its rear end are uprights 4, connected by a cross-piece 5 and secured against vibration and displacement by suitably-inclined braces 6, in bearings of which is mounted a'guide-A shaft 7. Also rising from the base between the vertical planes of the standards 4 is a mast 8, provided at its upper end with a hoistingpulley 9, traversed by a cable 10, to one end of which may be attached a drilling or loosening tool 11 (shown in Fig. 1) or a hailingbucket 12. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

Fixed to the shaft 7 is a terminally-fianged 6o operating-drum 13, upon which is reeled an operating-cable 14, and loosely fitted upon said shaft 7 is a terminally-flanged hoistingdrum 15, upon which is reeled the hoistingcable 10. The hoisting-drum is adapted to be locked upon the shaft to receive rotary motion therefrom by means of a clutch mechanism, which in the construction illustrated consists of spurs 16 for engagement with a crank-arm 17 the relative arrangement of the 7o parts being such that when the drum 15 is moved axially toward the arm or cross-head 17 the spurs 16 will engage the same, and thus provide for the desired communication of motion' from the shaft to the drum, or vice versa. 7 5 The means whereby this axial shifting of the drum 15 may be accomplished consists of a shifting -lever 18, suitablyfulcrumed upon the frame and connected with a slide 19,which is bifurcated at its inner end to form ears 2O 8o to engage the adjacent flange of the drum 15. Also arranged in operative relation with the drum 15 is abrake-lever 21, adapted for contact with one of the drum-flanges when the free end of the lever is elevated to retard the 155 rotary movement of said drum, as in lowering tools or the bucket into the well.

The crank-arm 17 is preferably of looped construction, and in operative relation therewith is arranged the free end of an oscillatory or spuddin g arm 22, hin gedlyor pivotally mounted at its rear end upon the mast 8 and provided at an intermediate point with a ropehitch 23, with which the hoisting-cable may have a running connection. n

When a drill-tool is in use, as in loosening the earth or other accumulations at the bottom of a well, the hoisting-cable l0 is engaged at an intermediate point with the hitch 23 and-thence is extended rearwardly and engaged with a holding device consisting, for instance, of fastening-pins 24, projecting laterally from thevmast, the other end of the lever being reeled upon the drum l5. The operating or drive shaft now being turned either manually, as by means of a crank handle,or byother power,such as horse-power, the looped crank-arm 17 is brought into engagement with the free end of the spuddingarm to depress the latter and thereby elevate the tools. iVhen the free end of the spudding-arm is released by the crank-arm, the former returns to its elevated or normal position, where its motion is checked by a stop consisting of a cross-bar 25, with which engages a block or buffer 26 on the spuddingarm. Obviously the continuous rotation of the drive-shaft in a uniform direction will cause the oscilla-tion of the spudding-arm, and consequently the reciproeation of the drill-tool, the return of the spuddingarm to its elevated position being due to the weight of the drill-tool or other device attached to the hoisting-cable when said cable is engaged with the running hitch 22E. As the drilling operation proceeds the hoisting-cable may be fed manually by allowing it to pay around the belaying or fastening pins 24; and unreel from the drum 15. After the solid material in the well has been sufficiently loosened the drill-tool should be elevated by drawing upon the operating-cable 14 to unreel the same from the drum 13 and reel the hoisting-cable upon the drum 15, said drum 15 having previously been locked to the drive-shaft by sliding it axially to cause the engagement of the clutch members and the hoisting-cable having' been disengaged from the bela-ying-pins 2i and the running hitch 23. In order that the hoisting-cable may be guided positively to the drum 15, l preferably employ a direction-pulley 27, supported by a forwardly-extending arm 2S of the frame. Having accomplished the elevation of the drill-tool by the extension of the cable 14, (the latter being accomplished either by horse-power or otherwise, as may be preferred,) the bailing-bucket l2 may be attached to the hoisting-cable and lowered into the well under the control of the brake 21, thereby rewinding the operating-cable 1i upon its drum 13. The bucket is provided in its lower end with an inwardly-opening valve 29, and by vertically reciprocating the bucket, as by drawing intermittently upon the hoisting-cable to successively raise and lower the bucket through a short interval, the loosened material in the Well will be drawn into the bucket, whereupon the bucket may be withdrawn from the well by unwinding the operating-cable 14, as hereinbefore described. Obviously the drilling` or loosening and hailing operations may be repeated as often as may be necessary to remove the desired solid material from the well.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, it is observed that in my machine l-employ a single shaft which consists of two coaxially-disposcd lengths and an intermediate crank portion which connects the said lengths of the shaft. This shaft serves as the means for supporting the two cablespools and for the operation of the spudding-arm. The cable-spool around which the operating-cable 1t is coiled is made fast with one length of this shaft. The other cable-spool 15 is fitted loosely on the shaft to remain at rest normally and adapted to be shifted into engagement with the crank of the shaft. The spudding-arm is mounted at one end pivotally on the frame, so as to have its other end disposed in the path of the said shaft, whereby the single shaft may be driven by the cable 14 or a crank, and this shaft serves to impart an oscillating or vibratory motion to the spudding-arm and the rotary motion to the spool on which the tool-cable is reeled. rllhis spool is provided with clutch elements 1G, adapted to be interposed in the path of the crank for the purpose of making the spool fast with the crank and the shaft, whereby the crank is made to serve as an element of the clutch mechanism. ifVith the spool l5 is associated means for conveniently shifting the same into and out of clutching relation with the crank,and a brake-lever is also adapt` ed for engagement with the spool to arrest the latter. It is to be observed, furthermore, that the spool may be shifted for its clutch to free the crank of the shaft, and thelever may be engaged with said. spool to hold the latter at rest or to allow the spool to turn idly on the shaft in order to pay out the cable 10 in the operation of lowering the cutting-tool or bailer into the well, but to elevate the cable, so as to withdraw the cutting-tool or bailer from the well, this spool should be shifted for its clutch elements to engage with the crank, so that the spool will rotate with the shaft. The improved construction and arrangement of parts tend to materially simplify and cheapen the apparatus as an entirety, and all the elements thereof are arranged so as to be conveniently and easily operated without requiring the attendant to move from his station at the machine.

Projecting forward from the mastadjaccnt to the hoisting-pulley are guide-pins 30, which are of particular use when the cable is slack to prevent the disengagement thereof from the pulley.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction maybe resorted to Without departing from thespirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having described my invention, what l claim is A well drilling and cleaning machine eon1- prising a frame having a mast, a single shaft provided with a crank, a power-spool, 13, fast with the shaft, a loose drum, l5, shiftably `flt-ted on the shaft and having the spaced clutch-pins arranged for engagement with the crank, a lever, 18, having a slidable shipperarm, 1f), engaged. loosely with. the drum, 'lo

IOO

l l'O an overhanging arm, 28, on the frame and provided at a point over the drum, 15, with the direction-pulley, 27, a spudding-arm disposed in the path of the Crank and having a running hitch, 23, a single cable guided on the mast and adapted to be fitted over the direction-pulley, 27, to be guided directly to the drum, 15, or to be passed beneath the hitch on the spudding-arm, and the pins, 24,

Io fast with the mast on opposite sides of the pivot for the spndding-arm and adapted to detaohably receive the cable when connected to said hitch, as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in I 5 the presence of two Witnesses.

ELIAS II. COI/VAN.

Witnesses: i

J. M. BLACK, E. RAMSOWER. 

